We've heard no official details yet, but thanks to a
new patent published Thursday, we now have an idea of what
Nintendo might have up its sleeve.

Before we dig into the patent, it's important to note its sole
author, Joseph Thomas Bentdahl, is a "technical services
specialist" at Nintendo of America, responsible for, among other
things, "new hardware project coordination."

This
patent was filed on June 3, 2014, with the US Patent and
Trademark Office. These are the highlights worth noting:

The system includes a game console, as well as a
"supplemental computing device" that's physically connected to
the game console to provide "processing resources."

In the patent background, Nintendo says it wants you to play
this console from anywhere. This hints at the idea of a mobile,
handheld component.

Nintendo says the console could "take the form of any
suitable type of computing device, e.g., mobile, semi-mobile,
semi-stationary, or stationary." That could mean anything from a
game console that sits in your living room and ports audio and
video through your TV, or a console that has its own display,
like a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or computer. It even mentions
wearable computing devices and body-mounted computing devices can
be "capable of sending communications and performing
functions."

The console works differently depending on how far away it is
from the "supplemental computing device." If it's close by, it
can process everything "at a nearly real-time speed," including
graphics and sound effects. But "far away devices may only be
able to provide asynchronous or supplementary support to the
events occuring on the console (e.g. providing for weather
effects in games, artificial intelligence, etc.)."

The console can "couple to multiple supplemental computing
devices" to enhance the capabilities of the overall system.
Nintendo mentions you can daisy-chain these supplemental devices
to one another, either physically or wirelessly, for more power.

Nintendo's patent
describes a system that includes a console as well as a
"supplemental computing device" to handle storage and processing
needs.USPTO

It sounds like the console will center around a handheld device
that's at least partially powered by the "supplemental computing
device" you keep in your home. So, you can take your console with
you and it will still work, but some features may depend on your
connection to your home's supplemental device.

And here's an interesting feature: According to the patent,
Nintendo will reward you for the amount of time or "raw
resources" (money, we imagine) you've spent playing on your
console. Compensation could include "access to other supplemental
computing devices, discounts on games, access to certain game
content, points for redemption for digital or physical goods,
information for display (e.g., as a badge) on a social network,"
and more.

An image from Nintendo's
patent describing a potential rewards system.USPTO

Overall, this sounds like a completely viable system, and
a potentially smart move for Nintendo. It also
sounds similar to what a
report from October in The Wall Street Journal that shed new
light on Nintendo's plans for the NX. Here's what it said:

People familiar with the development plans said Nintendo
would likely include both a console and at least one mobile unit
that could either be used in conjunction with the console or
taken on the road for separate use.

While the Wii U has struggled to sell, the company's handheld 3DS
is actually performing quite well. People love Nintendo's
handheld consoles. And since people use screens interchangeably,
it sounds like a good idea to let people play any way they'd
like: on the handheld, or on a tablet, laptop, or TV.

Of course, a big problem with Nintendo's recent consoles is that
there are so few games actually available to play. Nintendo's
third-party dveloper support is still weak, and it will be
interesting to see how the company could entice developers with a
game system that could work across different kinds of devices.

It's important to remember that many patents never see the light
of day. But whether or not this reflects Nintendo's actual plans
for the NX console, this patent is an interesting look at
Nintendo's thought process for a gaming console that's unlike any
past console it's made, as the company seeks to reinvent itself.